DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE IDEAS OR CHARACTERS FROM PRINCE OF TENNIS.

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(A/N): Hi! I just discovered this song and well, combined with my friends' strange but interesting discussion about the Yanagi/Inui/Kaidou/Momoi love polygon, it just inspired me…

The Song is Can't Stop the Rain by Cascada

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"Speech"

Thought

Lyrics

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Can't Stop the Rain: Prologue

How, how am I supposed to feel
When everything surrounding me
Is nothing but a fake disguise…

The past two weeks had, for one Kaidou Kaoru, been absolutely miserable. It all began with the weather, which for those two weeks had been cold and stormy, causing multiple flash flood warnings to erupt all over the region.

Trudging through the pouring rain, Kaoru suppressed a shiver from under his small, black umbrella. Glancing at the watch fastened to his bag, he picked up his pace. I'm supposed to meet Sadaharu in 15 minutes. Quickly, he made his way past the campus gates of Seigaku Middle School towards its sister high school. Turning the corner, he was surprised to see Inui Sadaharu talking animatedly with one Yanagi Renji. Pushing through the crowd of high school students, Kaoru found himself in front of the pair, waiting for them to finish.

"Ah, Renji I don't believe I've properly introduced you to each other," Inui stated as he gestured to the younger boy, who in turn bowed in greeting despite having seen the other before, "This is my former doubles partner and current boy-friend, Kaidou Kaoru. Kaoru, as you know, this is my old friend Yanagi Renji."

"It is a pleasure to be formally introduced to you," Renji smiled as he returned the bow before turning to his childhood friend, "How long have you two been dating? I had no data on this, although I did suspect something…"

"Almost a year," Sadaharu stated, grinning proudly, "Any way, Kaoru, it's raining too hard to really do any training today, at least not without getting sick. Let's just walk home together. Oh, and Renji will be coming with us, he was just passing through, although he could use a guide."

With a small nod, Kaoru agreed and the trio set off.

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Walking home together, Kaoru couldn't help feeling completely left out. A good meter in front of him, Sadaharu and Yanagi were eagerly trading and comparing data as they caught up on old times. Yanagi, who had been caught unawares by the sudden rain, had to share an umbrella with Sadaharu to stay dry. The way they walked so close together, talking in hushed voices and using lively gestures, bothered the younger boy. Shaking his head, Kaoru pushed back the gnawing feeling in his stomach and the white hot flares of jealousy that were burning him up inside.

"Sadaharu," he spoke up, "we almost past my house. Here is my stop. Would you like to come in for a while?"

"I'd love to," the older boy began, "but it's getting rather late and Renji's still a long way from his house. I'll walk him to mine and hopefully he can call for a ride from there."

"If worst comes to worst, I'll just sleep over at Sadaharu's house," Renji interjected, "Well, thank you and good-bye, Kaidou-kun."

"I'll see you tomorrow," Sadaharu murmured, giving his boyfriend a soft, chaste kiss, causing him to blush deeply. Turning to Renji, "Well, we'd better get going."

Kaoru's doubts were erased by thoughts of the kiss as he waved to the parting pair.

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A third-wheel. That's what Kaoru felt like as he once again found himself slowly walking behind Sadaharu and Renji, who had, for the past two weeks, been passing through only to end up walking home with them. Today, it wasn't raining, although the sky was heavy with dark, foreboding clouds. It was dreary, yet neither Sadaharu nor Renji seemed to notice for they were much to engrossed with their conversation about the various properties of the contents of Inui Juice.

Softly sighing in frustration, Kaoru glared at the back of their heads for a moment, then dropped his gaze. I shouldn't feel this way. They're just best friends… Besides, it has been a while since they've seen each other… It's ok, after all, they probably have a lot to catch up on… That's right, just a lot to catch up on… But, if that's true, why do I feel like this? It's wrong, isn't it? Damn it! I've never been in a relationship before this… How the hell am I supposed to feel?!

So caught up in his thoughts, Kaoru failed to watch where he was going and ended up walking right into some one.

"Oi! Mamushi! Watch where you're going!" Momoshiro's loud, obnoxious voice broke through, "Baka! Next time pay attention!"

Hissing in irritation, Kaoru pulled himself from the ground and threw a heated glare at his rival and co-captain for the Seigaku Middle School Tennis Team. Noticing he was even further behind the data pair than before, he roughly brushed past the other boy to continue his trudge home. Momo stood there, dazed and stunned, having expected a different reaction from his captain. Mamushi? What… Oh, it's Inui-senpai… again… That bastard, he must have… But he promised… He swore he wouldn't… Damn it! What the hell am I supposed to do?!

"Momo-senpai," Echizen Ryoma called from behind the seething third-year, "Is something wrong?"

"Eh? O-Oh, no, everything's fine," Momo murmured in a soft, deceptively cheerful voice, "There's nothing wrong, nothing at all..."

"If you say so," Ryoma muttered, shrugging, although he too gained a thoughtful look. Momo-Senpai's eyes are narrowed… Is he angry with Kaidou-senpai again? No… He's glaring at Inui-senpai… Strange, I wonder what happened…

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(A/N): How was it? Kind of short, I know, but this is my first Tenipuri Song-fic… I'm not sure how it is, so please review because some constructive criticism would really help.

Anyway, to clear up some confusion, in this fic Kaidou & Momoshiro are in their third year while Inui and the others are first year high-schoolers. Echizen is back from America to continue school at Seigaku. Also, for each chapter, another portion of the lyrics will be added as the theme…

On another note, please check out my Tenipuri Fanfic & Challenge Forum, you can link to it from my profile. There you can post challenges, recommend fics, etc. Also, for all of you tenipuri writers, it's a good place to start looking for inspiration or get help on your fics.

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Thank you, for reading